


Pending Approval

by orphan_account



Series: #FairGameWeek2020 [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Fair Game Week (RWBY), M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23339164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Qrow likes Clover. A lot. Probably more than he should.But he loves his kids. More than anything. He doesn’t want to disappoint them ever again.So, Qrow sets out on a quest to subtly gauge their opinions on Clover. If he’s going to bring someone new into their family, he wants to make sure the kids like him.Which, of course, sounds great! Except he can’t quite figure out the whole “subtle” part of his plan, and in fact only gets worse at it as time goes on.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: #FairGameWeek2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666546
Comments: 23
Kudos: 84





	Pending Approval

**Author's Note:**

> #FairGameWeek2020 - Day 3: Family
> 
> Better late than never <3
> 
> Right now, I only have talks with WBY planned out for the remaining chapters, but maybe I should write in JNOR, too? I mean, they're basically all Qrow's kids at this point, right?
> 
> Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in reading and maybe I'll add it to my plans!

Ruby, he thought, should be the easiest.

The last few months had brought them closer than ever, and Qrow didn’t think he’d ever been in a better headspace to be honest and vulnerable with her. Not that they weren’t close before, but back then, their relationship had felt more like a one-way street than a mutually supportive bond. He was her uncle, after all, so for a long time, he’d had it in his brain that he was supposed to look after her and protect her. The last thing Qrow wanted was to burden Ruby—or Yang, or anyone else, for that matter—with his own problems.

But then, Ozpin’s secrets came out and sent Qrow spiraling, and Ruby had been there to try to lend an ear, or—more frequently—just a hug, whenever he’d accept it. Qrow had hit one of his lowest points, but she never gave up on him. Honestly, without her, he wasn’t sure what state he would’ve been in upon arriving in Atlas, or if he would’ve even gotten that far in the first place. It wasn’t even just that, though—before, back when he’d been poisoned, she’d stepped up and kept him safe, then, too. Qrow hadn’t given her enough credit for that when it happened, but now, he knew that he should’ve started treating her as an equal rather than just a kid long before he did. She inspired him—all the kids did.

All that to say, these days, Qrow had few to no qualms about opening up to Ruby. Perhaps he’d still be slightly more hesitant if he was trying to work up the courage to discuss an actual _issue_ , but for once, that wasn’t the case. For _once_ , for the first time in _months_ , he wanted to talk about something good, something that made him _happy_. That alone was enough to leave him more excited than nervous about starting the conversation.

…Well, sort of. He was still nervous. Really nervous.

He rubbed his hands together in front of him as he paced in front of the door to one of the training rooms. The pristine, sleek silver walls were remarkably soundproof, so the only noise in the hallway came from the soft clicking of Qrow’s shoes on the white tile floor.

A one-way window took up a large portion of the wall on one side of the door, and the next time Qrow passed it, he paused to glance inside. The second he looked up, a flash of rose petals flew by on the other side of the glass, and not a moment later, a blur of electricity followed, leaving a trail of crackling yellow energy behind.

Harriet and Ruby were racing again, then. The next time they flew into his field of vision, the gap between red and yellow had grown, and Qrow’s chest swelled with pride. He smiled to himself, but after watching a few more laps, the restless energy writhing in his stomach pushed him to start pacing again.

The kids, Ruby and Jaune especially, seemed to idolize Clover’s team, at least to some extent. Qrow hadn’t heard them speak poorly of the Ace-Ops yet, anyway, but on the other hand, that didn’t mean he hadn’t simply missed it. What if, behind closed doors, they disliked the Ace-Ops? What if they thought they were too militant, too aloof? Brothers, what if they just hated _Clover_ , for some reason?

_Okay, Qrow_ , said a voice in his head, most likely originating from the logical side of his mind. _Settle down. Nobody hates Clover._

The fact that _he_ didn’t hate Clover should’ve said enough about that, honestly. A man made of endless optimism and (what first appeared to be) utter devotion to military life? Mixing him with Qrow sounded like a disaster, in theory, but there was just something different about him. He was more than his title. Against all odds, against all of Qrow’s initial assumptions and prejudices, he liked Clover. He really, _really_ liked Clover.

First of all, he never made Qrow feel like a burden. From day one, he’d accepted him, wholly and unquestionably, even after hearing about Qrow’s semblance. After years of isolation and being blamed for all misfortunes, whether Qrow did it to himself or whether it was someone else reinforcing his negative thoughts, he couldn’t deny that it was nice for someone to meet him with open arms. It was new. Different.

Initially, Qrow had thought it was because Clover assumed his semblance protected him from Qrow’s. But the more time they spent together and the more they talked, Qrow realized that wasn’t the case at all. For one, Clover’s semblance wasn’t as flawless as it had first seemed, but more importantly, Clover was just a nicer person than that. He didn’t think he was somehow immune to Qrow’s semblance—he didn’t think about Qrow’s semblance at _all_. He just saw, and liked, _Qrow_. As a person.

Clover wasn’t the first to treat him like a full-fledged human who was more than just his semblance, but the list of those who did was short enough that _any_ new addition was a noteworthy occasion. And for Clover to feel that way immediately, without a single doubt, was even more amazing, though Qrow did realize that it made sense. They both understood how it felt to be reduced to their semblances, after all, even if the problems that came with those assumptions couldn’t have been more different between the two of them. People avoided Qrow, whereas they sought out Clover’s company, hoping for a stray thread of good fortune to drift their way.

Qrow wasn’t like that. At first, yes, he’d fought against pinpricks of jealousy and wondered about how much better his life might’ve been had he been blessed with a semblance of good luck instead of bad. But now? Much like Clover enjoyed his presence, Qrow simply enjoyed Clover’s, too. Their semblances didn’t matter. It was a nice change of pace for both of them.

Of course, there were a few shallower reasons driving part of Qrow’s interest, too. For one, he could hardly ignore Clover’s looks. His sea green eyes, much like a true ocean, were deep enough to drown in, and Qrow found himself doing so almost any time they made eye contact for longer than a few moments. On the few occasions he could escape from the pull of Clover’s gaze, Qrow just as easily got lost in the rest of his face—the gentle arc of his jawline, the inviting curve of his lips, and the high swoop of his hair, the softness of which Qrow longed to discover by, perhaps, running his fingers through it.

Clover’s skin, too, was a feature he thought he could spend hours exploring, tan and soft and _warm_ whenever it touched Qrow. He wanted to count Clover’s freckles (twice, for good measure), as once he’d gotten close enough to notice them, he’d never been able to miss them again. They dusted Clover’s cheeks and were scattered lightly atop his exposed shoulders—and thank the Brothers for _those_ , too, as his arms alone were two broad, beautiful works of art in Qrow’s eyes. He could waste whole days watching the muscles tense and bulge as Clover trained with weights or worked with Kingfisher, and he wouldn’t have a single complaint about spending his time that way.

Even Clover’s voice had been committed to memory, its deep, inviting timbre almost serving as a grounding point for Qrow as more time passed. These days, just hearing it nearby could pull him out of a daydream, as it had nearly the same attention-drawing effect as someone calling his name. Warm and low, like a hug for his ears. Clover could probably make stale mission reports sound great if he read them out loud.

He always used his voice to say the nicest things, too. Qrow was accustomed to clashing with optimism, but while Clover boasted an abundance of that, he somehow presented it in a way that didn’t grate on Qrow’s nerves. He didn’t just say that things would turn out alright and then wait around for that to happen. No, he would act on his claims to ensure they’d become true. Qrow welcomed the change, especially compared to most optimistic people he knew, who only spoke with hollow naiveté and unrealistic idealism. Clover saw the differences he wanted to make, the goals he wanted to reach, and he did everything within his power to follow through. Qrow could respect that.

There were little things, too, like Clover’s love and respect for his teammates, or the way he tolerated Qrow’s snarky quips as long as Qrow put up with his awful puns in turn (thankfully, as Yang’s uncle, he’d had years of practice in that regard already). And how Clover always, without fail, called out Qrow’s self-deprecating remarks, or the fact that he had a backbone and his own set of morals, and wasn’t just blindly loyal to James. Or how Clover didn’t mind if Qrow missed their morning briefings, but he always brought _two_ cups of coffee, just in case Qrow _did_ attend. And then there was the way he liked to show off, but only, it seemed, for Qrow, and how that arrogance was mostly just a part of the act, as he’d proven himself to be a rather humble individual, in actuality.

Maybe it was all too good to be true. Deep down, Qrow thought he still harbored a fear of that being the case, even now. Getting close to others hadn’t worked out for him in years, and a small but insistent part of him maintained that pursuing any sort of meaningful bond with Clover would end the same way as all the others. Qrow knew that shaking that hesitance entirely would be impossible—there was just too much history, too much grief, too much bloodshed hanging on through memories and experience—but Clover made him feel like he deserved something new, something better. Clover made him want to _try_.

Nobody else had made him feel that way in a long, long time.

Suddenly, a voice behind Qrow spoke, rousing him from his pining: “Nice hustle today, kid.”

Qrow turned in time to see Harriet holding a fist out to Ruby as they emerged from the training room. Ruby stared at the hand for a moment before her eyes widened with surprised glee and a grin split across her face. She bumped her own fist against Harriet’s, and all but buzzed with excitement even after the Ace-Op had turned and started walking down the hallway.

Seeing the display helped to calm Qrow’s nerves a bit more. He couldn’t deny that Ruby admired the Ace-Ops—or, well, Harriet, at least. Maybe she harbored similar feelings towards the other operatives, Clover included.

“Hey there, kiddo,” he said, walking up behind her.

Ruby whipped around, smile growing impossibly wider when she saw him. “Uncle Qrow! What are you doing here?”

“Just thought I’d see how you were doing.” Qrow’s eyes softened, and pride slipped into his voice. “Pretty good, from the looks of it. You win your race?”

Ruby preened under the praise, looking like she was biting back a flustered giggle. “Oh, well, yeah, but I mean—” She waved a hand at him—”Harriet’s so cool, too, y’know? She’s just as fast as me on a good day, but yeah, I beat her today, can you believe it? Ah, Uncle Qrow, she gave me a fist bump!”

Qrow let out a soft, amused exhale as she rambled, though even he wasn’t immune to the infectious nature of her sheer joy. He found himself smiling along as she laughed and gestured with broad, sweeping motions, trying to share everything she’d done in the last hour in the span of about ten seconds.

“Last week, I only barely managed to catch up, and only in the last lap,” Ruby continued, her enthusiasm still manifesting itself physically as she bounced back on her heels. “But today, I took the lead and I _stayed_ there. Harriet thinks I’m getting faster.”

“I’d believe it,” said Qrow, chuckling. He reached up to ruffle her hair. “Can’t seem to keep my eye on you for more than a minute these days—you disappear so fast.”

Ruby batted his hand away, eyes sparkling. “I’ve been _busy_ , Uncle Qrow,” she said, jokingly defensive. “We’ve been training almost every day.” She nodded at him. “What about you? What have you been doing?”

_Flirting, mostly_ , Qrow thought, shamelessly. His mind drifted to late-night training sessions with Clover. He thought about the way their glances at each other lingered for a little too long, the way his skin burned with desire long after Clover touched it, the way they’d both leave flushed from more than just the sparring.

They’d been dancing on the edge of _something_ for weeks, and Qrow wasn’t an idiot—he knew he had it bad. He was just ready for that _something_ to become reality, if he’d read the signs right and Clover truly felt the same.

The thought reminded Qrow why he was really there, and he offered Ruby a small, sheepish smile. Heat tickled his collarbone, but if Ruby noticed, she didn’t show it.

“Some training of my own,” he finally settled on saying. It wasn’t a lie.

“By yourself?” Ruby’s shoulders sank.

“No,” he said, quickly. Then he paused, hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Uh—with Clover, actually.”

Ruby tipped her head, curiosity flashing in her eyes. “Clover? …Yeah, now that you mention it, we haven’t seen him that much.” She smiled. “That would make sense, if he’s been spending all his time with you instead.”

The tips of Qrow’s ears burned. “Well, I wouldn’t say _all_ his time, but…” He trailed off, because, well, maybe he would, actually. Huh. “Anyway,” he continued, clearing his throat, “I, uh, kinda wanted to talk to you about something… if you think you can spare a minute.”

Ruby made a show of checking her wrist, even though she wasn’t wearing a watch. She hummed before looking back up at Qrow. “I’m supposed to meet up with the others for lunch soon,” she said with a grin, “but I _think_ I can fit you in.” After a second, though, her face sobered, the corners of her mouth twisting down with worry. “Is everything okay?”

A pang of guilt hit Qrow as his history of being the bearer of bad news wiped the smile from Ruby’s face, but he forced himself to brush the feeling away. This time was different. He could fix this.

“Yeah.” He smiled at her, hoping she’d believe him. “Everything’s fine. Promise. Just had a question.”

Ruby searched his gaze for a moment longer before nodding and letting out a relieved breath. “Okay… Okay.” She perked up slightly. “Fire away, then!”

The image of someone wandering into the hallway while they were talking flashed into Qrow’s mind. That would be just his luck. Not that he had anything to _hide_ , really—even if Clover himself happened to walk by (which he wouldn’t, because Qrow knew he had a meeting with Ironwood that he’d _not_ been looking forward to), Qrow was fairly confident they both had a mutual understanding about their feelings for each other (at least, he certainly hoped they did) and were both just waiting for the other to act first.

So maybe it was his pride that he sought to protect, then, considering he could already feel a light blush settling over his cheeks. He’d established a certain image for himself in the eyes of (most of) Ironwood’s soldiers, and that of a flustered, lovestruck fool was not one he was keen on fostering.

Even though the _plan_ , he reminded himself, was to be _subtle_ about it, so there shouldn’t _be_ a flustered, lovestruck fool involved, _anyway_. He only wanted to get Ruby’s opinion. That was it. Waxing poetic about Clover Ebi, easy as that was, was _not_ part of the plan.

But, Brothers, he was just so—

_No. Don’t even start. You’ll get distracted._ And then, as if recalling how the last half hour or so had gone for him, the voice in his head added, _Again._

Qrow blinked hard and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, not willing to risk it. “Actually, could we…?” He let out a huff of embarrassed laughter. “A random hallway isn’t exactly the most private place in the world.”

“Oh! Right.” Ruby smiled apologetically and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, we can go somewhere else. Sorry.”

~

They ended up in Qrow’s room. Silence fell between them as they sat next to each other on the edge of his bed. This was supposed to be the easy part, Qrow told himself again. After all, he’d just seen her practically fawn over one of the Ace-Ops—how negative could her perception of Clover possibly be, based on that?

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Ruby asked, once the quiet had dragged on for too long.

“Yeah, I…” Qrow’s face scrunched up, and he hunched over, reaching up to rub his brow. “Sorry, uh…”

Ruby waited patiently, but Qrow could tell he was losing her trust. As the seconds ticked by, she seemed more and more convinced that he was keeping something _bad_ from her and delaying for as long as he could. And that just wouldn’t do, so Qrow let out a long sigh before sitting back up and planting his hands firmly on his knees.

He stared straight ahead, steeled his resolve, and asked, “So, what do you think about the Ace-Ops?”

There was a pause, followed by a quiet, disbelieving, “What?”

Qrow drummed his fingers against his knee. “The Ace-Ops,” he repeated. “I mean—I think you like Harriet, but… what about the rest of them?” _What about Clover?_

“I…” Ruby took a second to gather herself and then said, “Yeah, I think they’re really cool. Why? Do you not like them?” She tensed beside him. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t trust them?”

“What? No,” said Qrow, a nervous chuckle rising in his throat. “No, I’m fine with ‘em. I just—wanted to know what _you_ thought.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments more before Ruby finally relaxed. “Well, in that case, yeah—I think they’re awesome,” she said again. “They work really well together. I could just watch them for _days_.” Some of her energy from before started to return, her eyes shining with admiration. “They’ve got super cool weapons, and they’re strong, and they seem like really nice people on top of that, and...” An almost longing sigh slipped between her lips, and she pressed her hands against her cheeks, framing the awestruck grin that formed there. “They’ve really taken all of us under their wings, and we’re all learning so much, Uncle Qrow! It’s amazing. They’re amazing."

Qrow nodded along and crossed his arms loosely over his chest. So far, so good. He hesitated for a second longer, and then asked, “What about Clover?”

“Clover?” Ruby tipped her head to one side.

“Yeah,” Qrow confirmed, a bit too quickly to be casual. _Damn it_. He could already feel the heat crawling up his neck. “Y’know, uh… What do you—what do you think of _him_ , specifically?”

Ah, yes. That was definitely subtle.

Ruby hummed, like she was stalling for time to think. After a moment, she replied slowly, “He seems… like a strong leader. There’s no questioning why the other Ace-Ops look up to him so much.”

“Right…” Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. “And, what about, just… as a person? You got anything besides ‘seems nice?'”

A small frown made its way onto Ruby’s face, and for a moment, Qrow feared he was about to receive a negative response, but then he noticed the fog of confusion hanging over her silver eyes. It wasn’t that she disliked Clover—she didn’t _know_ Clover. Qrow hadn’t thought about that. He’d gotten to know him so well that he’d forgotten the same wasn’t true for the others. Maybe he should’ve urged Clover to hang out with them more before asking for their thoughts.

Well, too late, now. Either way, when Ruby shrugged and shook her head helplessly, he wasn’t surprised.

“I don’t… really know?” she tried. “Like I said earlier, we haven’t actually seen him that much. So, yeah, ‘seems nice’ is kinda all I got? As cool as the other Ace-Ops, I guess.” Ruby let out a brief, uncertain laugh. “Honestly, it sounds like you’d be a better person to ask, since you’re the one who’s been training with—"

She broke off as her gaze flicked down, just barely, just low enough to make Qrow think her attention had shifted to his cheeks. Or, rather, his blush, because as they talked, it had intensified enough to be noticeable. As she stared, the confusion in her face gave way to contemplation, until eventually, she gave a single, decisive nod, something far too close to _understanding_ for Qrow’s liking blossoming along her features. She looked down at her lap with a small, content smile.

“I think…” Ruby looked back up at him with soft eyes. “ _I_ think you’ve smiled more in the last few weeks than you have in all the time since Beacon fell.” Her eyes softened further, and she added, “If not longer.”

“Uh—” Heat shot up Qrow’s neck. If he wasn’t blushing before, he certainly was now. He held his hands up defensively. “Woah there, kiddo, I didn’t—this isn’t—don’t think this is about me. I’m just… Y’know…” He cleared his throat, making a point to look away from his (now _beaming_ ) niece. “The Ace-Ops. I just wanna make sure they’re alright, and _I value your input_. Okay?”

“ _Okay_ , Uncle Qrow.” Ruby leaned closer, bumping her shoulder good-naturedly against his. She paused before looking up at him again with a glint in her eyes. “Well, I value your input, too, so what do _you_ think about Clover, then?”

Ah. So she wanted to play _that_ game. Qrow wasn’t having it. She wouldn’t trick him into gushing about Clover—not today.

“ _I_ think,” he said pointedly, leaning over so they were at eye-level with each other, “you’re going to be late for lunch if you don’t get a move on.”

“Aw, and here I thought you wanted to spend more time with me,” she replied with a laugh. “Kicking me out already?”

“If you’re gonna be a _brat_ , yeah.” Qrow tried to be stern, but his eyes were light, and he couldn’t completely hold back his own smile.

Ruby’s response to _that_ was to stick her tongue out at him and say, “You told me you _liked_ brats.”

He couldn’t win today. “Alright, alright,” Qrow conceded. “Clover’s a cool guy. Happy?”

“Extremely.” Ruby grinned. “You’re probably right about lunch, though,” she continued, pushing herself to her feet. “Nora might eat everything in the cafeteria again if I don’t get there soon.” She walked towards the doorway, clasping her hands behind her back. Before she left the room completely, though, she glanced over her shoulder with a final, knowing smile, and said, “For what it’s worth, though, I… I think he’s really good for you.”

And then she walked away, seemingly unconcerned with the way Qrow’s face proceeded to burst into flames. _Brat_.

After few moments passed, though, Qrow relaxed, a tiny, pleased smile of his own tugging at the edges of his lips. _For you_ , she’d said.

She knew.

Not that that was much of an accomplishment, considering how badly his face betrayed him, but… She _knew_. Even if it was more direct than he’d intended, Ruby had told him the one thing he’d been hoping to hear, and at the end of the day, that’s all that mattered to Qrow.

_One down._


End file.
